Questions about DAS, first time Disney family

[racie0417]

Next week my family is going to Disney for the first time ever. We are going with a 4 day military park hopper pass. We have two boys, ages 5 and 7, both with high functioning ASD. The ONLY thing either one of them care about is Star Wars. Based on touringplans crowd predictor, crowd level will be lowest at HS our first day there.

Therefore, our first day will be at HS. I have heard you need to be at Jedi Training Camp at 9am to ensure a spot before the end of the day. Is there a way to get there by 9am while also getting DAS for both of our sons. We need them to have their own DAS as we anticipate having to separate a lot. Due to sensory issues, we have one (the 7 year old) that will want rides as fast as possible and another (the 5 year old) that will refuse all rides and want to meet characters.

Any other tips? I'll be honest, I am freaking out a bit.

 

[Hoodie]

We got the DAS at Guest Services outside the "tapstiles" while waiting for rope drop. I don't know what time they open, but we were the only people at the window.

 

[dworldlovers]

I'm very happy for you and your upcoming trip! We've been to Disney many times but don't have first hand experience dealing with handicaps. I'll offer my advice for what it's worth and what I'd say to any first timers. Go with the mindset that you won't see/do everything. Relax and enjoy the things you do and let your children enjoy in their way. Taking your children to attractions separately sounds like a good idea. You'll all be able to share your experiences together when you meet up or at dinner! Above all else try to be patient with yourselves, your children, and the other guests and CM's. Have a magical time and thank you for your military service!

 

[Mrsjvb]

N We need them to have their own DAS as we anticipate having to separate a lot. Due to sensory issues, we have one (the 7 year old) that will want rides as fast as possible
Any other tips? I'll be honest, I am freaking out a bit.

DAS will NOT provide instant access to rides. it is standby time minus ten minutes. so you will need to make full use of the FP+ system( and yes you may get a FP+ for everyone for a ride even if the younger one won't.. )one parent takes the 7 yo on the ride with their FP+ and the the other parent takes the 7 yo who is now borrowing his sibling's MB.

luckily, the person on the DAS does NOT need to be AT the ride to get a return time( in case of meltdown..so close and yet so far syndrome) but they MUST be there in order for everyone to get into line( so in this case you cannot get a DAS return time for the 5 yo so the older brother can ride twice off DAS)

using it to the best advantage is also getting DAS return times and using that period to ride something else on FP+ or with a short standby.

 

[racie0417]

If we can get the pass at HS, that is a huge relief. I am worried about keeping them busy before the park opens. My 7yo has insomnia and even with sleep meds often wakes for the day in the middle of the night. His birthday present was a behind the scenes penguin tour at a zoo and he was so excited that he was awake for the day at 2am.

We already have some FP+ booked and I know that the DAS won't give us instant access to rides. I am going to see if we can use stroller as wheelchair so we can have our stroller in the line. Our 5 year old is pretty low tone and has trouble walking or standing for long periods of time.

 

[lanejudy]

There is another recent thread where people have posted experiences getting the DAS at the "outside" Guest Relations location at DHS. While not guaranteed since this location's primary duties are related to ticket issues, it sounds like you have a pretty good chance of getting your DAS there rather than waiting until you are inside the park. I'd arrive a little early to get the DAS outside -- or if you have time to kill the night prior you can try then if the kids would understanding going to the front but not entering the park.

Getting 2 DAS is a good idea since you expect to split up. Note that your party will be split across the 2 DAS cards as well -- assuming you are a party of 4 it will be 2 guests per card. If both kids want to do the same attraction, get a return time on both cards. Otherwise you're all set to split up.

PP mentioned how the card works with a return time equal to standby minus 10 minutes. I also wanted to mention that only "permanent" character greetings will use DAS, and only those that have a FP+ option. No FP+, no DAS. If you haven't already, please check out the WDW Disability Access Service Card sticky near the top of this forum -- you only need to read the first post, not the full thread. Hopefully you have some FP+ already planned as well; DAS works best when both are used together.

Enjoy your vacation!

 

[SMD]

DAS will NOT provide instant access to rides. it is standby time minus ten minutes. so you will need to make full use of the FP+ system( and yes you may get a FP+ for everyone for a ride even if the younger one won't.. )one parent takes the 7 yo on the ride with their FP+ and the the other parent takes the 7 yo who is now borrowing his sibling's MB.

luckily, the person on the DAS does NOT need to be AT the ride to get a return time( in case of meltdown..so close and yet so far syndrome) but they MUST be there in order for everyone to get into line( so in this case you cannot get a DAS return time for the 5 yo so the older brother can ride twice off DAS)

using it to the best advantage is also getting DAS return times and using that period to ride something else on FP+ or with a short standby.

I think the OP is saying that her 7 year old wants to ride thrill rides, not access rides as quickly as possible. And the 5 year old will want to do different rides, so they're going to get 2 DAS cards, each for 2 people.

OP, you can also try using rider swap on rides with height restrictions. If you all approach the ride, get a swap pass and have one parents ride with your 7 year old while the other parents takes your 5 year old to do something else. Then you can switch parents and take the 7 year old on the ride again, while the 5 year old does his ride again or a new ride with the other parents. This way it's not a situation where each child spends the whole day with only one parents and both parents get to spend time with both kids.

 

[WDW112014]

We did ride Swap for years and finally after youtube videos our ASD son was ready to ride with the others

 

[Schmeck]

You could also get the Jedi training times then go get the DAS if the outside GS is too busy.

 

[opusone]

You could also get the Jedi training times then go get the DAS if the outside GS is too busy.

This is what I would suggest as well. First, go get your Jedi training return time(s), then go back to Guest Relations (inside the park) and get the DAS cards. We had no problems at the inside Guest Relations at Hollywood Studios with our high-functioning ASD son last month.

And definitely get your FP+ times scheduled as soon as possible (then use the DAS card in conjunction with the FP+ system). This worked great for our son!

 

[SueM in MN]

You may or may not be able to request DAS at Guest Relations outside of the park. There is no way to predict that, so I would suggest trying there, but not counting on it.

I would agree with the suggestion of planning to go directly to the Jedi training sign up, whether or not you were able to get the DAS before park opening. Having or not having DAS won't make any difference there and how quickly the Jedi training slots fill up is vary.

As others mentioned, you will want to schedule your Fastpass Plus times ahead of time; DAS works best when used with Fastpass Plus.
If you haven't checked it out, there is a WDW DAS thread stuck near the top of this board. The first post is the most important - it is DAS FAQs and has been kept up to date with information.